Chapter 177 The Tail of Summer

As expected by Zhang Yunqi, at the end of this summer vacation, Zhang Xiaonan's biological father, Zhang Guorui, the number one powerful man in Yunxi Village, finally showed up.

That day happened to be the military training for the junior and senior high schools of the No. 1 Middle School. Zhang Xiaonan was teaching a class of first grade students and had to participate in the military training, so she was at school. Her father Zhang Guorui came up to give her something. It was not known whether he came on purpose or was just passing by. Zhang Guorui came to Zhangji Qifengdu Fish Meal Shop of the No. 1 Middle School. However, Zhang Yunfeng and his mother were busy with renovations at Zhangji Qifengdu Fish Meal Shop of the No. 2 Middle School that day and were not there. Only Zhang Yunqi and his sister Xiaoxiao were guarding the fish meal shop of the No. 1 Middle School.

Zhang Guorui came with a bag of fresh peanuts. Zhang Yunqi took it very enthusiastically and made a bowl of Qifengdu fish meal by himself. He also bought a few dishes of stewed vegetables and two bottles of Lao Yanjing. Zhang Guorui rushed to the city early in the morning and had not eaten breakfast yet. He was not polite and chatted with Zhang Yunqi while eating. After eating, he started to smoke a dry tobacco stick. He had not seen many customers come to eat fish meal in the past few hours. It was deserted. He couldn't help asking Zhang Yunqi: "Is the rent of your fish meal shop very expensive?"

Zhang Yunqi said, "Not bad, 8,400 a year."

Zhang Guorui's hand holding the tobacco stick trembled for a moment, and he said in surprise, "So expensive." He paused, as if he felt that his tone was a bit too concerned and surprised, so he slowed down his tone and said, "There is not even a customer eating noodles in the store this afternoon. Is this business going well?"

Zhang Yunqi said: "My eldest brother is running the business. I don't know the details, but making 10,000 or 20,000 a month is not too stressful."

Zhang Guorui looked at Zhang Yunqi several times with a meaningful look, then he put out his cigarette, stood up and said, "Your mother and your eldest brother are not here, so I will go back to the village first and come back another day."

Zhang Yunqi said, "How about you stay here for one night and go down tomorrow?"

Zhang Guorui waved his hand and said, "Forget it. Your aunt is not in good health. I still need to take care of the animals at home. I have to go back."

Zhang Yunqi did not try to persuade him to stay. When he sent Zhang Guorui to the door, Zhang Guorui hesitated for a moment and said, "Yunqi, you know your sister Xiaonan and your elder brother..."

Zhang Yunqi nodded and said, "Yes."

Zhang Guorui was silent for a moment, and finally nodded, turned around and left Zhangji Qifengdu Fish Powder Shop. Zhang Yunqi looked at his back as he walked away under the scorching sun with a snakeskin bag on his back. For some reason, he felt that he had become much more hunched over, and he could no longer find the sense of awe he had when facing him as a child.

During the summer vacation, the fish powder shop had a slow business, and the military training at the No. 1 Middle School was closed, so the freshmen were locked in the school and could not get out. After Zhang Guorui left, Zhang Yunqi had nothing to do in the shop, so he took the newly bought reference books for the second year of high school and started reading. He read for an hour or so every day, mainly to consolidate his knowledge and preview the knowledge for the second year of high school.

For him, perhaps it was a little difficult to learn these junior high school and high school knowledge during the summer vacation when he just returned to this era. There was a hurdle in his mentality. For a man in his forties who has experienced all kinds of shitty things in the society, it is inevitable to feel sleepy when holding junior high school and high school textbooks, because his mind is not calm and is distracted. He used to be a top student, and the best time for him to study was when he turned a deaf ear to the outside world and focused on reading the books of sages.

Now, if I really calm down and read and learn, I can regain that feeling. Perhaps it is the breadth of knowledge, meticulous thinking and the vigorous energy of young people, so I don’t find many knowledge points difficult and can easily draw inferences from one example.

Apart from studying, many classmates would invite him out to play, such as swimming, drinking, eating supper, playing billiards and basketball. Zhang Yunqi seldom refused. As he was young, he had to learn to cherish such carefree and absurd days. After all, there were too many things in this world that could not be reversed once they were gone, such as youth, original intention and friendship.

Sometimes, Zhang Yunqi and Kaizi would walk around the streets of Jiangchuan City in flip-flops and eat ten-cent popsicles, walking on the streets and looking at pretty girls. The two brothers lived and grew up heartlessly, spending the long summer. In the blink of an eye, it was September 1st, and the not-so-grand but anticipated first semester of high school arrived.

At nine o'clock in the morning, after breakfast, Zhang Yunqi rode his bicycle to No. 1 Middle School.

Walking through the streets and alleys of Jiangchuan City, appreciating the local conditions and customs of Jiangchuan City, junior high school students who were going to cram school hurried on their way while eating breakfast, children who were dragged by their mothers to cram school, but pouted their little faces to express their protest, and those high school freshmen, with sunny smiles, strode towards the No. 1 Middle School. These long-lost and familiar scenes fell into Zhang Yunqi's eyes, with a special feeling. He had a longing for a brand new high school life.

The first report was a bit of a gamble, because the second year of high school had already been divided into arts and science classes. Zhang Yunqi chose the arts class, but he didn't know which class it was. He looked for a while in front of the crowded bulletin board, but he didn't see his class, but he saw Ji Ling's. This girl was in Class 118, also arts.

"Yunqi, are you looking for your class number?"

Zhang Yunqi heard someone calling him, turned his head, and saw Li Yufei, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, standing not far away, holding a drink in her hand, biting the straw and smiling at him in the sun. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Yes, I haven't found it yet."

Li Yufei said: "I just happen to know, let's go together."

Zhang Yunqi hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said yes.

Li Yufei turned around and walked in front, Zhang Yunqi followed behind her. It was just the beginning of the school year and there were many students on the road. Zhang Yunqi was not surprised to find that along the way, there was not a single boy whose attention was not attracted by Li Yufei. The girl in front of him was indeed pretty. She was wearing a floral chiffon skirt, and her fair face was hidden by her long, soft and straight hair. In the sun, her skin was crystal white.

The two of them soon arrived at the first teaching building, Class 156 on the fourth floor. Li Yufei stopped and turned to look at Zhang Yunqi. Zhang Yunqi said, "You are in this class too, right?"

Li Yufei nodded: "Yes."

Zhang Yunqi said, "Then go in."

Zhang Yunqi was the first to push the door and walk into the classroom. He glanced at the students in the classroom and was surprised to find that many of them were familiar people, all of whom were old classmates from the first year of high school, especially the group of boys. They seemed a little bit more friendly after not seeing them for two months.

Chu Jian was also there. She was sitting in the third row by the window. She also saw Zhang Yunqi and smiled. Her expression was calm yet warm, like a green lotus just blooming.

Logically speaking, this girl was very famous in the No. 1 Middle School, especially after the song "Lotus Goddess" during the centennial celebration and the admiration of the coolest boy in the school, Lin Zihao. It was just strange that most of the classmates had already arrived and there were not many seats left in the classroom, but no one was sitting next to Chu Jian.

Zhang Yunqi thought about it and walked straight over to the last row of the classroom. That area was his exclusive seat in Class 168 of the first year of high school where he had sat for a whole year. Kaizi was sitting next to him, waving at him excitedly.

Zhang Yunqi's butt had just touched the chair when she saw Li Yufei walking in. She glanced around the classroom and finally landed on Chu Jian who was sitting under the window. Without hesitation, under the somewhat stagnant gaze of the boys in the new class, this older beauty who had been famous since junior high school sat down next to Chu Jian with a pink schoolbag on her back.

At that moment, Zhang Yunqi felt that the temperature in the classroom seemed to be getting hotter. Although the two girls, Chu Jian and Li Yufei, smiled at each other, the boys did not feel as if they were bathed in the spring breeze at all. At the end of this midsummer, it seemed that there was some exciting story worth looking forward to waiting for them.

(End of this chapter)